By Fr TOM McHUGH
Holy Week begins today, Palm Sunday, and ends with the Easter Vigil on Easter night. We call this week ‘holy’ because, throughout these days, we discover with admiration all that the Lord Jesus accomplished in order to show us the infinite tenderness of God, the embrace of God’s mercy.
This week, we discover:
- How he entered his town without being afraid of being arrested and mistreated (Palm Sunday)
- How he offered his life, just like shared bread (Holy Thursday)
- How he was nailed to the cross, just like a criminal (Good Friday)
- How he passed through death, drawing all of humanity into God’s life (Easter Vigil),
By celebrating these three days as one liturgical action, we are drawn into the self-giving death and resurrection of Jesus.
Holy Week is God’s week – God who works wonders out of love for all his children on earth.
That is why throughout this week, their hearts filled with gratitude, Christians gather together to pray and sing.